Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The divide between
individualism and communitarianism flashed to the surface last week during the
presidential campaign. It came about after President Obama rather famously told
a Virginia audience. ”If you were
successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.There was a great teacher
somewhere in your life. Somebody helped tocreate this unbelievable
American system that we have that allowed youto thrive. Somebody
invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got abusiness. you didn’t build
that. Somebody else made that happen. TheInternet didn’t get invented
on its own. Government research createdthe Internet so that all the
companies could make money off theInternet.”

This may sound like an
esoteric question, but it really gets at the heart of the discussion now going
on within the presidential campaign. Communitarianism or individualism? Where do you
fall?

From the moment one is born to
the moment life ends, a normal human being cannot survive without nurturing. He
cannot birth himself or bury himself. There is always another human to be a part
of the support system from birth to death.

We are indeed an individual
strand in the web of the community. Whatever affects the web affect us (Chief
Seattle), and vice versa. Global warming, mad cow disease and other issues are
communitarian in nature, but driven by individuals in both
directions.

Everyone’s psyche or
conscience is a product of one’s environment, and our morality is a necessity of
co-existence.

Strict individualism works
well, as long as one is capable of taking care of one’s self. However, no
individual is free from vulnerability of accidents, diseases, wars and old age.
We are dependent on others to produce or consume.

Religions have contributed
greatly towards building the communitarian life where the invincible (lol) and
vulnerable both can live his or her life to the fullest extent
possible.

Indeed morality is the
insurance for the safety of individuals in a community.

Where do I
fall?

There is a balance to be
maintained in life. Justice is the core value and basis for the success of any
given society, without which no society can maintain its social, moral and
economic equilibrium.

One can get away with murder
or taking advantage of others. But that creates an imbalance and rots the
society with insecurity. It also puts the responsibility back on individuals to
restore that elusive and dynamic balance.

Individualism and
communitarianism can be best understood by looking at the extreme ideologies:
responsible capitalism and communism. Individuals have the burning desire to
excel and to do well, and capitalism becomes a catalyst for the prosperity of
individuals that directly benefits the society, through incentives to the
individuals, where as communism restricts growth through forced equality. As
capitalists we need to think about our own safety in the long haul caused by
inequalities.

If freedom and justice are the
core values of a given society, we need not worry about communitarianism or
individualism. Both complement each other.

Mike Ghouse is committed to building a Cohesive
America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a
professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, civic
affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on
Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he
contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News and
regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world.
The blog www.TheGhousediary.comis updated daily.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Welcome to Ramadan, this column is about the politics, traditions and the spirit of Ramadan.

Like a mother who wants her children to live well, like a teacher who wants his students to do well, and like a chef who wants his patrons to enjoy his food…. God wants every one of his creation to live in harmony and do well.

No one is deprived of God’s love; he has reached every human through a peace maker, messenger, prophet, reformer or simply a wise man or a good friend that brings sense to living. The creator offers a variety of guidance to the mankind, no matter where you live, the guidance is there, the guidance that leads to live in peace, and without fear of the other.

Religion is one such instrument that God guides us through, and there are many of them, at least 250 traditions including a dozen major ones. Each tradition does well for the believer in bringing peace to oneself.

Today, the one tradition I am talking about is Islam, and one of its beautiful aspects that helps build cohesive societies.

Ramadan Mubarak

Welcome to Ramadan, it begins on Friday the 20thof August, 2012. It is the month of fasting, a month of learning about others, connecting with others, developing empathy with fellow beings and above all reaching new heights in piety and spirituality, Taqwa as it is called. It is to become closer to God and emulate his qualities of unselfishness, forgiveness and love. It is a month of practicing service to fellow beings and developing self discipline to learn to live they way we want, and being conscious of every moment of the day for 30 days.

I am working on an article on Ramadan, which I stopped, instead to write about Michelle Bachman and her tantrums which shall appear at Huffington post tomorrow. Meanwhile here are a few things I have written.

The Politics of Ramadan at Washington Post

Politics plays a crucial role in our Temples, Synagogues or Churches, Mosques are no different. A few scientifically-inclined-Muslims have adopted NASA’s calculations believed to be precise. However, four different traditions are operating concurrently; i) Strictly Calendar, ii) NASA and iii) Sighting with bare eyes and iv) sighting by others in the community.

The spiritual masters have captured the human gravity towards rituals and have molded it with the art and science of self-discipline in their respective religions. The noble purpose of each one of them was to bring a balance in our lives and a balance with our environment.

Every faith is composed of a set of unique rituals to bring discipline and peace to human life. Fasting is one of the five key rituals thatMuslimsaround the world observe.Rituals signify the milestones of our daily life. Every significant moment of the day is a ritual. It is an unwritten way of measuring our progression, a memory pattern to bring discipline to our actions.Continuedhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/spirit-of-ramadan_b_939961.html

The Traditions of Ramadan at Ramadan Exclusive

its celebration time when Muslims around the world anxiously wait for the first moon of the ninth Lunar month to appear on the sky. The families gather in their backyards, or get on the nearest hillock or climb on the top of their homes and wait for the pencil thin moon to appear on the horizon, and when it does, jubilation begins.Continued at:http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2010/09/traditions-of-ramadan.html

Quraan says, had God willed, he would have made every one of us alike - then he says, he chose to make us into different tribes and nations from the same couple (or the same source). Then he goes on to challenge us to know each other - he knows that our conflicts stem from not knowing each other, and living with misinformation about others, when we know each other, conflicts fade and solutions will emerge.

Every religion means peace and Justice and that is acceptable to God. He says, you need not worry who you are, as long as you take care of your neighbor, I will recompense you. Each one of us is responsible for our Karma.

He concludes ( Quraan 49:13) that the best among us is the one who knows each other, learns about each other and respects each other. If we take the time, to learn, every religion is out there to bring goodness to humanity.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Is
our electoral process better off without the polarizing issues of faith-based
politics at center stage? Or does the absence of explicit moral and religious
expression impoverish our political debate? Our Texas Faith panel weighs
in:

Absence of
faith will not impoverish political debate; in fact, it will enrich it with a
focus on the most important economic need of the day:
jobs.

Congress,
Senate or the President is not in the business of establishing or supporting a
religion; their responsibility is to be a catalyst and serve Americans in the
pursuit of their happiness and economic freedom.

Faith should
not be a factor in this election, as both parties stand to lose; the Democrats
worry about the Catholic vote and the GOP stands to lose if they make an issue
out of Romney’s faith, it would mean back peddling.

Social issues
will be played out by the Democrats; the anti-GLBT-abortion-immigration stance
of GOP will be a fodder to the Democrats. The CBS poll in May discovered that
62% of Americans “believe that same-sex unions should be recognized by law.”
While we remain divided on abortion, Romney cannot afford to flip flop on
immigration.

GOP may not
even succeed in carving up an enemy out of Sharia. First of all, American
Muslims are not asking for it, and secondly it will not pass the House and
Senate, let alone the president signing it. Democrats will hit them hard for
squandering public time on a non-existent issue.

GOP’s chorus
about repealing Obama care on the first day in office will fall flat on its
face, unless both the houses and the Presidency is Republican. The Republicans
would risk losing votes of the young people benefiting from insurance coverage
of their parents.

As a
disclosure, I am Moderate Republican, and when I posted a note on Facebook and
my blog congratulating fellow Americas upon Judge Roberts’s decision, an
incredible number of Republican men and women came out of the closet and
appreciated the decision. Thus we have Obama Republicans
now.

Absence of
faith talk will not be missed, our nation is operating on Maslow’s hierarchy
theory, and Jobs is our priority, food is more necessary than faith, and abuse
of religion for politics may not work this time.

I hope the
debates remain focused on economy, and for entertainment they can resort to
Presidential dogs, vacations, Kissing Children, pipe line, fund raising and the
price of rice in China.